Chapter 57: It's ruined, it's ruined, signing this receipt makes my scalp numb

In order to make them clear about his strategic intent and avoid any coordination errors, Fang Xinghe had to explain in more detail.

"First, my new book cannot be released at the same time as the New Concept essay collection; it's best to release it a month later."

"Second, if you break my negative news now, it's equivalent to working for free for New Concept, letting them take all the benefits. And when my work is released, it's very likely I'll be covered in black material, losing fans on a large scale, and it won't sell well."

"Third, I don't like the current heat attribute. I don't want to use a bigger news story to stimulate the public. Waste is one aspect, and it's also very easy to be counterproductive."

"Fourth, things that have been done will eventually be exposed; it can't be hidden forever. But I have confidence in using the new book to hedge against the black material to the greatest extent, so the best landing plan is to let these two things happen at the same time."

"Can you understand my logic?"

"You only need to help me delay time, let the media peers who are paying attention to this believe that there is no so-called big story. If you drag it out for two months, the 50,000 yuan will be your windfall."

"If you can handle things more beautifully, then maintaining a long-term cooperative relationship and getting first-hand information from me that is not convenient to release through regular channels is also possible."

"How about it? This money, are you going to earn it?"

"Damn!"

The dark circles slapped the table and stood up, so excited that the dark circles under his eyes weren't even dark anymore, starting to turn blue.

"Why wouldn't I earn it? Young Master Fang, from now on, I'm your man!"

*Eww, disgusting, how are you talking?*

Without waiting for President Fang to make any move, the dark circles turned his head and persuaded the bald forehead very emotionally: "Brother Gan, don't be difficult with yourself. The two of us get 25,000 each, that's several years of salary!"

The bald forehead wasn't unmoved; he just still had concerns.

"Young Master Fang, of course I want to cooperate, but there is another problem with this matter—we can spread fake news and stop most people, but there will always be some who don't believe in evil and come poking around..."

"That's not something you need to worry about."

Fang Xinghe waved his hand and said calmly: "Since I have decided to do it, from today on, no more reporters from out of town will be able to get close to the family of three."

How simple a matter?

His good cousin has a whole school of little boys helping to watch.

As for the uncle's family, Xiao Long and the others are bored to death every day. Give them 100 yuan a day to put a few people on watch, and they can count exactly how many mice have entered the door.

Finally, the uncle's workplace... should I complain to the old man, or twist the ear of the county leader?

Fang Xinghe didn't plan to drag this out forever, just wanted to win two or three months of time, so he could easily handle it from any angle.

His calmness was so powerful that in just an instant, the bald forehead and the dark circles were completely convinced.

"Okay, we are willing to cooperate, but I have to say the ugly words first—I will only do things when I see the money."

"Don't blame us for being realistic, 50,000 is really not a small amount..."

Fang Xinghe waved his hand, not letting them explain any further.

"You can write the new draft now. My friends will stay here with you and temporarily keep your mobile phones."

"Tomorrow morning, I will bring the full amount to find you."

"After you fax the draft back and it's published, my friend will take the money and accompany you back to the Imperial Capital, escorting the two of you home."

"Finally, you write a receipt according to the format, sign it, and press your fingerprints, and we'll be square."

"As for whether we can cooperate again later..."

"One thing at a time, it depends on how you handle this matter."

"To be blunt, I don't lack media resources, no need to gather a bunch of losers and provide poverty relief to them. So, there is a next time only if there is value."

The deal was basically confirmed, and Fang Xinghe’s sharpness finally showed... a small part.

It felt like an insult, but in essence, it wasn't for the sake of insulting.

Dealing with people in their thirties at the age of 14, with a distance of thousands of kilometers in between, politeness cannot guarantee loyalty, only strength can maintain rights.

Pan Hong has some famous sayings that are rough but not unreasonable: if you give them food and spend money to support them, you must make it clear who the master is.

And the rigorous logic, the slightly harsh "wake-up call," can effectively boost their confidence and increase the probability of them persisting until the last moment.

The bald forehead and the dark circles looked at each other for the last time. At this moment, their eyes were filled with excitement, and if you looked deeper, you could even detect a trace of vigilance toward each other.

If I take the money and don't do the work, will he snitch?

If he takes the money and doesn't do the work, should I snitch?

When similar distracting thoughts flashed through their minds, the two were still friends, but they were no longer completely on the same front.

Front-line reporters, it sounds nice, but in fact, it's not the same thing as the big writers sitting in the office writing drafts.

They had no confidence in whether Fang Xinghe’s new book could be written that well; they just didn't have the qualifications to regard 25,000 yuan as a small amount.

Thus, that was enough.

The most direct evidence was—when they nodded heavily and started to swear loyalty, under the transmission of the starlight panel, their bodies emitted a glowing white light.

This meant that the two people who were originally ill-intentioned not only sincerely agreed to the deal but were even conquered by Fang Xinghe, becoming light fans.

First-level fans didn't necessarily have much worship, but this change itself meant a lot, a lot...

After handling this matter, Fang Xinghe walked out of the hotel alone.

Just as he reached downstairs, he was stopped by a middle-aged man.

"Young Master Fang!"

The middle-aged man had a typical Northeast "cannonball cut," the surrounding area shaved to reveal green stubble, a short layer on top of his head, a big gold chain around his neck, and a cowhide bag tucked under his armpit.

Classic, too classic.

Fang Xinghe, who was already very familiar with the current era, knew that in the Northeast, this was a look that only bosses with a certain status could have.

He stopped, tilted his head to look, waiting for the move.

"I am Wang Ye!"

The middle-aged man walked two steps quickly, reached out his right hand from afar, his smile enthusiastic.

"I heard you graced my small shop with your presence, so I rushed over to see. Nothing else, just wanted to meet our great talent. Oh my, you are even more handsome in person than the rumors say... How is it? Did things go smoothly?"

Wang Ye was very polite, but his speech was half-literary and half-colloquial, quite awkward.

"Hello." Fang Xinghe didn't reach out, just nodded. "Quite smooth, sorry for the trouble."

"What are you talking about, what are you talking about? We're all family, nothing was broken, where's the trouble?"

Wang Ye smiled and retracted his hand, opened his bag, and took out a business card.

"From now on, if there's anything else in this area by the station, just call Brother Wang directly. The hotels, hair salons, video halls here... although I don't own them all, they all have to give me some face!"

Fang Xinghe took the business card, spun it twice between his fingers, didn't look down at it, but coldly examined Wang Ye himself.

Examination usually means coldness, no emotion.

He was vigilant toward anyone who took the initiative to approach him. The reason it was expressed externally rather than hidden was mainly because he was too lazy to be bothered.

"Thank you." Fang Xinghe finally just nodded, neither friendly nor hostile. "Stay here."

Then he turned and walked toward the gate.

Until his figure disappeared into the night, the lackey approached and stood behind Wang Ye.

"Boss..."

"Is our little fellow townsman very awesome?"

"Yeah, awesome."

"Not easy!" Wang Ye shook his head, full of emotion. "From now on, if you see him near the station, do you know what to do?"

"Know, help if there's something, don't get close if there's nothing."

"I knew you were that kind of material! Good, just do that. From now on, the business in this area is handed over to you, and be polite to those little bastards too."

"Understood!"

Wang Ye rubbed his belly and walked toward the back door, satisfied.

Halfway there, he suddenly turned his head: "By the way, unplug the front desk phone line."

The lackey understood, turned around, and sat in the counter: "Don't worry, I'll watch it myself."

Wang Ye laughed, gave a thumbs up, turned around, and walked with light steps, humming a little tune.

When he first learned that Fang Xinghe had brought people to his hotel, he was really scared, breaking out in a cold sweat.

There are always people who think so-called underworld bosses are awesome, doing whatever they want on their own turf.

But in fact, bosses who have made a name for themselves in the underworld are most afraid of crazy little brats, and only then the authorities.

Fang Xinghe occupied both, already registered in the gray area of the county, like a plague god wherever he went—both plague and god.

If nothing happened, then send him off politely; if something happened, help him settle it with tears.

As for the two reporters from the capital upstairs... sorry, if you have any problems, please call the police.

If the bald forehead and the dark circles were unconvinced and secretly looked for opportunities to ask the hotel for help... that would definitely have great entertainment value.

But President Fang’s kung fu was really too good; they really obediently wrote the draft, stayed up all night, and finally came up with a perfect set of rhetoric.

They worked so hard it made people feel sorry for them...

The next day, after Fang Xinghe finished his practice, he paged Xiao Long and then headed straight to the bank.

He didn't contact Xiao Long last night. Drink what alcohol? Drinking with that group of tiger girls was too damn dangerous; you'd have to be sick to really get close to them.

Keeping distance and maintaining it with money was just fine.

Arriving at the Construction Bank branch, he was surrounded by the ladies again. Someone started it, so everyone took out notebooks and asked for his autograph.

Outside, he definitely didn't have such widespread fame and popularity, but in the county, it was indeed different.

The benefit was that the originally troublesome money withdrawal process was greatly simplified.

The downside was, his hand was sore.

He withdrew 55,000 yuan, put 5,000 separately in his bag, put 50,000 in a kraft paper bag, and took a taxi back to the hotel.

At this time, the bald forehead and the dark circles had already written the new draft.

The brothers stared eagerly at Fang Xinghe: "Young Master Fang, look, is it okay to write it like this?"

He threw the kraft paper bag over casually and picked up the draft to scan it briefly.

As expected of old reporters, this work was done beautifully.

In their writing, Wang Deli (the uncle) had no good words for Fang Xinghe, every answer was sour, complaining that Fang Xinghe didn't come to see them after becoming famous, nagging about how good he was to him when Fang Xinghe was a child, talking about his sister's death by saying "our family was difficult then, but we helped out in the end," and talking about the present by saying Fang Xinghe made a fortune and how much he got just for exam rewards...

The draft as a whole had a lot of highlights, but it was all trivial, and the real meaning reflected was—*doesn't this uncle look like a bad person?*

The dark circles explained: "The reason we didn't write the draft from a positive angle is because of Nandu's stance... Before we came out, the higher-ups hinted at it."

"So we can only dig from a negative angle." The bald forehead chimed in, "We mainly strengthen your rebellious and cold-hearted character traits. Only such a draft can satisfy the higher-ups."

The dark circles added: "But we also don't want others to go find Wang Deli, so we portrayed him as a liar who is only interested in profit. When peers see that he has no material and is difficult to deal with, they will likely not go there to find trouble for themselves."

Very good, Fang Xinghe was quite satisfied.

"Okay, fax it."

The group arrived at the Third Middle School. Fang Xinghe opened the office building door by "brushing his face" and then headed straight to Liu Dashan’s office—*given the relationship between us brothers, what's wrong with using his stuff?*

In front of Fang Xinghe, the bald forehead made a call to his superior.

"Leader, there's really nothing to dig here. I don't know which idiot spread the fake news. Fang Xinghe’s uncle doesn't have a good relationship with him, but it's mainly trivial things about not getting any benefits after he became famous. Damn, I spent three boxes of cigarettes and two bottles of wine, and the biggest scoop he gave me was that Fang Xinghe wet the bed when he was a child!"

*Pfft!!!*

Heizi and Du Yu hurriedly turned their heads toward the wall, holding back their laughter.

But the flavor was just right. The editor on the other end didn't know what he was beeping about, and the bald forehead angrily raised his volume: "Why can't we go back? What else can we do here?"

"Sure! Of course I'm sure!"

"Whoever got the news, you tell him to come and interview him himself!"

"We both took turns and didn't ask anything. What, are you suspecting that we took Fang Xinghe’s money, right?!"

After some more "uh-huh" and "ah-ah," he finally reluctantly let go: "Alright then, we'll stay for a few more days and see... Fang Xinghe refuses to see anyone, even if there's a chance for an interview, it won't be our turn..."

"Alright, alright, the phone bill is expensive, that's it!"

As soon as the call hung up, the bald forehead immediately looked eagerly at Fang Xinghe.

President Fang gave a thumbs up: "Not bad, Old Gan, your acting is impressive."

Don't say it, if we're just talking about life-like acting, the bald forehead could be a teacher for many artists. Although this isn't artistic creation, artistic creation often draws from these life fragments.

"Alright, let's split the money."

In view of their cooperation, Fang Xinghe took the initiative to change the process.

"You two can save it if you want, or keep it on you, it's up to you. My two little brothers still have to accompany you for a while, and the receipt must be written now."

"OK OK! No problem!"

The dark circles excitedly blurted out English. In this era, it was somewhat high-end.

The brothers started writing the receipt according to Fang Xinghe’s ideas.

[Received today (Zhongtai Hotel General Manager Wang Ye) 50,000 yuan RMB, used to purchase all audio, video, and text materials of the large-scale collective silver party organized by Zhongtai Hotel that I ( ) and ( ) found through secret visits, guaranteeing no copies, and will not expose or report to any party, money and goods exchanged, square from now on—August 4, 1999, Signatory: xxx]

The two big brothers were sweating profusely while writing the receipt, and every time they touched their hands, it was a handful.

During this time, they opened their mouths several times, looking like they wanted to say something, but in the end, they closed them painfully, saying nothing.

Heizi and Du Yu were also stunned, their mouths wide open as if their jaws were dislocated.

*Brother, you play too wild!*

*This damn thing works too?!*

The two kids couldn't help but mutter: "Brother, Wang Ye has quite a bit of power in the underworld..."

"I know." Fang Xinghe raised his eyelids nonchalantly. "Isn't that just right?"

"Then you let him take the blame, once he finds out..."

"Whoever signed the name, he'll go find whoever. I'm not the one who took the money."

Fang Xinghe turned his head, looking at the two brothers with a smile, and teased: "Besides, how could the two big brothers be so stupid as to give that kind of disaster a chance to chase them for debt?"

"Ah, yes, yes, yes!"

The dark circles and the bald forehead nodded frantically, obediently putting their hands on their legs, like elementary school students.

*Don't worry, Young Master Fang, we brothers are very sensible!*

Fang Xinghe put away the receipt with the fingerprints, nodded with a smile: "Brother Gan, Brother Ke, from now on we're family, rest assured and enjoy your vacation. If you have anything, just order them."

Subsequently, he instructed Du Yu: "You two must fulfill the duties of a host..."

"Don't worry, Big Brother!"

Heizi’s eyes glowed, excited to the point of licking his lips.

Take care?

No, no, no, little master will eat your food, drink your drink, play your games, and if you dare to do anything sneaky, I'll beat you up!

Dare to mess with my brother, death penalty can be avoided, but living penalty is inevitable.

When Fang Xinghe returned home, Xiao Long and his two lackeys were standing at the door, having waited for a while.

"Young Master Fang!"

The three brothers had changed into new clothes, shaved their beards, and styled their hair into a neat, forward-spiked style, looking at least five points more handsome.

"Very good, very spirited."

Fang Xinghe patted Xiao Long’s shoulder and brought them into the small courtyard.

"There's a matter I'll leave to you..."

Briefly explaining, when he mentioned giving 25 yuan per person per day, the young men were excited again.

Enough for cigarettes, enough for food, enough for a day of video games, but not enough for alcohol—however, two people in a group, four people in two groups, everyone pooled their money together and it was enough for a beautiful drink.

This was the most appropriate standard calculated after Fang Xinghe’s deliberate control.

Giving too little gave no motivation, giving too much easily bred bad habits. Now it was just right to ensure a balance between motivation and keeping them settled.

Fang Xinghe warned again: "Keep a close watch, but don't take action. If there's anything you're unsure about, call me to handle it."

"Understood, don't worry, we'll definitely get it done neatly!"

Xiao Long swore, and patted his chest with a *thump-thump* sound.

This guy was boisterous and didn't look reliable, but in fact, at his age, he was already quite reliable in doing things.

Fang Xinghe had nothing to worry about, counted out 700 yuan, notified them to start work tomorrow, and leisurely went back to continue writing his book.

Everything that could be done had been done, and as for how to play next...

Listen to my command.